Creating a Climate of Change - Professional Development in Environmental and Sustainability Education through University and School Board Partnerships

Oct 15, 2026

Examines integrative professional development in Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) by partnering a large Canadian pre-service teacher training program with an urban school board’s EcoSchools Program. Highlights that, despite the urgency of addressing the climate crisis and the large scale of K–12 teacher education in Canada, ESE professional learning is often delivered in isolation. Reports initial findings from a three-year case study tracking partnership impacts, noting early successes and potential value for research on university/school board collaboration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Context for Environmental and Sustainability Education

Need for integrated professional development

Case study partnership and initial findings

Creating a Climate of Change: Professional Development in Environmental and Sustainability Education through University and School Board Partnerships Hilary Inwood & Alysse Kennedy, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada Abstract With over eight million students, teachers, and professors in Canada, both preservice and in-service K–12 teacher education are key to addressing the climate crisis through Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) . Yet these approaches to professional learning in ESE are often delivered in isolation, with little precedence for bringing pre-service and in-service teachers together. This article explores this type of integrative professional development by introducing an innovative collaboration between a large Canadian pre-service teacher training program and an urban school board’s EcoSchools Program. It presents the initial ﬁndings of a three-year case study that tracks the impacts of this partnership; with some early successes already identiﬁed, this may prove to be an innovative addition to the research on how university/school board partnerships can effectively support professional learning in ESE. Résumé On compte plus de huit millions d’élèves, enseignants et professeurs au Canada : il est donc essentiel, en vue d’affronter la crise climatique, de former les futursenseignants et les enseignants en exercice de la maternelle à la 12e année dans le domaine de l’éducation à l’environnement et au développement durable (EEDD) . Pourtant, les approches de perfectionnement professionnel en EEDD demeurentsouvent des initiatives isolées. Qui plus est, les enseignants en formation et ceux en exercice sont rarement réunis dans ces projets. Le présent article explore une approche intégratrice du perfectionnement professionnel où une collaboration novatrice a été établie entre un important programme canadien de formation des enseignants et le programme ÉcoÉcoles d’un conseil scolaire urbain. L’article présente les conclusions initiales d’une étude de cas d’une durée de trois ans qui s’est penchée sur les effets de ce partenariat. Certaines réussites sont déjàévidentes, et il serait novateur de les intégrer à la recherche aﬁn d’examiner l’efﬁcacité des partenariats entre universités et conseils scolaires pour soutenir le perfectionnement professionnel en EEDD. Keywords: environmental and sustainability education, pre-service teacher education, in-service teacher education, EcoSchools program, university/school board collaboration, professional development Mots-clés : éducation à l’environnement et au développement durable, formation des futurs enseignants, formation des enseignants en exercice, programme ÉcoÉcoles, collaboration entre universités et conseils scolaires, perfectionnement professionnel 68 Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 23(1), 2020 Creating a Climate of Change: Professional Development in Environmental and Sustainability Education through University and School Board Partnerships The urgency needed to bring about signiﬁcant shifts in addressing climate change has never been more clear, as evidenced by the latest report from the International Panel on Climate Change (2018) . This prestigious panel of environmental scientists has given humanity just over a decade to limit increases to greenhouse gases (GHG) and atmospheric temperature before irrevocable damage is done to the ecosystems on our planet. This makes the critical role of education clear to those working in this sector; every aspect of formal and informal education, from elementary to post-secondary, in school and community settings, must contribute to a wide-scale transformation toward environmental sustainability. With an estimated eight million students, teachers, and professors involved in formal education systems in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2014), this offers a means to bring about social, cultural, and environmental change through curriculum, pedagogy, and infrastructure improvements in scho

FAQs

Why is education considered critical for addressing the climate crisis in this article?

Because every aspect of formal and informal education must contribute to a transformation toward environmental sustainability, enabling wide-scale change in schools and communities.

What problem does the article identify in current ESE professional learning?

Professional learning in ESE is often delivered in isolation, with limited precedence for bringing pre-service and in-service teachers together.

What partnership is examined, and what is the study timeframe?

A collaboration between a Canadian graduate-level teacher training program and a school board’s EcoSchools Program is examined through initial findings from a three-year case study beginning in 2017.

Oct 15, 2026

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